1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid-cooled heat sink for an electronic device, more particularly to a liquid-cooled heat sink, which is constituted by a plurality of modules so as to form an integral body, thereby minimizing the size and simplifying the structure to enhance the heat dissipating performance.
2. The Prior Arts
When a computer or an electronic device is in operation, the central processor unit (CPU), the chips or other processing units within a main housing generate a lot of heat. If the generated heat is not expelled swiftly from the main housing, the main housing cannot maintain a certain temperature range there within and malfunction may result in the computer or the electronic device.
Traditionally, air-cooled heat sinks are generally employed to cool down the CPU, the chips or other processing unit. In most cases, heat dissipation fins are mounted in contact with the surface of the CPU, the chip or the other processing unit in order to absorb the generated heat while a fan unit is disposed on or nearby the fin assembly such that upon activation of the fan unit, the generated heat is expelled to an exterior of the main housing by downstream air flow of the fan unit. However, the more the CPU and the chips within an electronic device, the more the heat is generated, thereby resulting in unabling the air-cooled heat sink to expel the generated heat fully and entirely, which, in turn, may cause malfunction of the electronic device.
In order to solve the above-stated problem, a liquid-cooled heat sink has been proposed. The liquid-cooled heat sink utilizes a pump unit to activate a liquid to circulate within a looped system, which is provided with a heat exchanger to achieve the effect of heat exchange, thereby absorbing and expelling the heat generated from the CPU, the chips and et cetera. Some liquid-cooled heat sinks are disclosed by US patents, like U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,971,632, 8,245,764, 8,274,787 and 8,356,505.
In general, the liquid-cooled heat sink provides higher effective heat dissipation ability. However, it is noted that majority of the liquid-cooled heat sinks include more components and hence result in more assembly time. In addition, they have a larger size when compared to their preceding ones, and hence fail to satisfy the users' demands. The more components also result in a leakage potential factor in the liquid-cooled heat sinks. In other words, even though the liquid-cooled heat sink with the pump unit has a bulky size, the circulated liquid provides low heat dissipating ability.